Anchoring clip for overlapping wall paneling or siding



Dec. 14, 1965 J. s PRIT'CHARD ANCHORING CLIP FOR OVERLAPPING WALL PANELING 0R SIDING Flled July 10, 1963 INVENTOR.

JOHN s. PRITCHARD BY BUCKHORN, BLORE,

KLARQUIST 8 SPARKMAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,222,831 ANCHORING CLIP FOR OVERLAPPING WALL PANELING OR SIDING John S. Pritchard, Portland, 0reg., assignor to Evans Products Company, Portland, Oreg., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 10, 1963, Ser. No. 294,021 Claims. (Cl. 5299) The present invention relates to a clip for anchoring paneling, siding or the like to a wall structure, and more particularly to an anchoring clip for securing overlapping members in place with the clip concealed from view.

With the advent of prefinished exterior paneling as a popular siding material there has developed a distinct need for a blind fastener especially adapted for fastening such paneling in place with the fastener hidden from view and without breakage of the exposed, visible surface of the paneling.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved blind anchoring clip by which paneling and siding can be anchored in place quickly, easily and securely.

Another object is to provide a new and improved anchoring clip having positioning means for securing overlapping members in place with a constant amount of overlap throughout all such members.

A further object is to provide a new and improved anchoring clip having the above features which is concealed from view when the panel members are in place and which provides a slight ventilation space between overlapping members.

Another object is to provide a new and improved paneling anchoring clip with a positioning means for providing uniform overlap, which means can be removed from the clip to conceal the same from view when the paneling is in place.

Still another object is to provide a new and improved anchoring clip having the above features, which is inexpensive to produce.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily ascertained from inspection of the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, while the features of novelty will be more distinctly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a clip in accordance with the present invention showing the interrelationship of such clip and the members fastened thereby;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the clip of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross sections through an assembly fastened by means of the clip of FIG. 1 at different stages of assembly;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIGS. 3 and 4 showing a modification in accordance with the invention.

Withreference first to FIGS. 1 to 4, the anchor clip is a thin but stiff metal or plastic plate including an elongate main body portion 12 and a pair of flanges 14, 16 bent at right angles to the body portion and projecting in opposite directions from opposite ends thereof. The main body portion has flat front and rear surfaces, 13 and 20 respectively, the rear surface 20 being adapted to engage the outer surface of a prefinished underlayment, or underlying panel, 22, and the front surface 18 being adapted to engage the inner, or hidden surface of a prefinished overlayment, or overlapping panel, 24, when the clip is in place as illustrated in FIG. 1.

The upper flange 14 extends rearwardly from the main body 12 for engaging the top edge surface 26 of the un- 3,222,83l Patented Dec. 14, 1965 derlayment 22, and is of a length no greater than the thickness of the underlayment at the top edge 26. The lower flange 16 extends forwardly from the main body for engagement with the bottom edge 28 of the overlapping panel 24, and has a length greater than that of the upper flange 14 and greater than the thickness of the panel 24 at the bottom edge 28. Thus, the opposed flanges at either end of the clip serve as spacers, or positioning means, by which the amount of overlap of adjacent panels is controlled and maintained. The main body portion is provided with a nail hole 30 through which a nail 32 is driven to fasten the clip to the underlayment 26, and studs or furring 33 as the case may be.

A pair of sharp pointed prongs 34 are struck from opposite side edges of the main body 12 and project forwardly from the front surface 18 at generally right angles thereto. The prongs are adapted to be embedded in the overlapping panel 24 for anchoring the same in place with respect to the underlayment. As shown rnost clearly in FIG. 3, the prongs curve slightly in opposite directions, or diverge, one from the other in a direction toward their pointed, outer ends so that as the overlayment is impaled upon the prongs the latter diverge further to provide an especially effective interlocking, gripping engagement with the overlayment. The broad surfaces of the prongs are disposed transversely of the main body and thereby provide a maximum surface area for supporting the overlayment. Striking the prongs from opposite side edges rather than from the interior of the plate provides an extremely sharp point for easy penetration of the overlayment. Also, it will be noted that the prongs are laterally opposed and closely adjacent one another so that both may be embedded by means of a single hammer blow on the overlayment.

In accordance with its intended purpose as a blind fastener for exterior paneling the clip is made of frangible, nonrusting material such as an aluminum alloy or plastic. The lower flange 16 is greater in length than the thickness of the overlying panel 24 so that it may be grasped and readily broken away from the clip and discarded once the overlayment 24 is anchored in place. To simplify the removal of the lower flange 16 the clip material in the area of the bend 36 between the body and lower flange is weakened as by slotting the same or other suitable procedure. Thus in the initial stage of assembly, as shown in FIG. 3, the clip is nailed in place to the underlayment 22 with the upper flange 14 in engagement with the top edge 26. Then the bottom edge of the overlapping panel 24 is brought into abutment with the lower flange while the prongs are embedded therein by rapping the exterior surface of the overlapping panel with a blunt nosed hammer. The lower flange may then be detached from the clip by gripping the protruding outer end thereof and bending the flange downwardly to fracture the metal at the bend 36, leaving a completely concealed clip, as shown in FIG. 4.

The clip of FIG. 5 is a modification of the foregoing, including a main body 40, prongs 42 and upper flange 44 identical in construction and operation to the corresponding features of the clip of FIG. 4. However the lower flange 46 of the modified clip is shorter in length than the lower flange of the previous clip, being less than the thickness of the panel 24. Accordingly the flange 46 need not be frangible, but can remain in place in the assembly permanently and yet be reasonably well concealed from view.

In assembling the siding, the preferred practice is to work upwardly from the bottom of the wall, spacing clips at each tier at equal intervals such that nails used to fasten the clips to the underlying panels will penetrate the underlying studs 33 as well. This, of course, eliminates the need of using additional visible nails driven 3 from the exterior face of the panelling to secure the same to the studding.

Having illustrated and described some preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention permits of modification in arrangement and detail. I claim as my invention all such modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A blind-type clip for anchoring in place overlapping panel members and the like including an underlayment and an overlayrnent, said clip comprising a thin, stiff, elongate plate member including a main body portion,

means on said body portion for fastening said plate member to said underlayment,

spacer means for providing said overlayrnent and underlayment with a predetermined constant overlap, said spacer means including a first flange bent from one end of said plate normal to said main body portion for engaging the top edge of said underlayment,

and a second flange bent from the opposite end of said plate normal to said body member and in a direction opposite that of said first flange defining a ledge extending a predetermined distance beyond the body member for engaging the bottom edge of said overlayrnent,

and blind prong fastening means integral with said main body portion and projecting outwardly from said body portion a lesser distance than said predetermined distance intermediate said first and second flanges for embedment in the undersurface of said overlayrnent.

2. A blind-type clip for anchoring in place overlapping panel members and the like including an underlayment and an overlayrnent, said clip comprising a thin, stiff, elongate plate including a main body portion,

said main body portion including a nail hole therethrough for fastening said plate to said underlayment, spacer means for providing said overlayment and said underlayment with a constant predetermined overlap, said spacer means including a pair of flanges bent in opposite directions from opposite ends of said main body portion and at right angles thereto,

said flanges including a first flange for engaging the top edge of an underlayment and a second flange of greater length than said first flange for engaging the bottom edge of an overlayrnent,

said second flange being frangible such that it can readily be removed from the remainder of said clip following the installation of said overlayrnent,

blind fastening means including a pair of integral sharppointed prongs struck from the opposite side edges of said main body portion intermediate said flanges and projecting in the same general direction as but a lesser distance than said second flange for penetrating the underside of said overlayrnent,

the broad surfaces of each of said prongs being disposed generally transversely of said main body portion,

said prongs being divergent with respect to one another in a direction toward their extremities and toward the longitudinally opposite ends of said plate member.

3. In a blind-type clip for securing the upper portion of a lower panel to a wall member and sequentially supporting an upper panel in a predetermined overlapping position and securing the lower portion of the upper panel to the lower panel,

a generally vertical plate-like body portion having an upper end adapted to act as a gauge when the upper end is placed in a position at a predetermined level relative to the upper edge of a lower panel mounted on a wall member,

means for securing the body portion to the lower panel in said position,

prong means carried by the body portion and projecting a predetermined distance forwardly from the body portion,

and a generally horizontal flange secured to the lower end of the body portion and projecting forwardly therefrom beyond the prong means so as to provide a ledge on which the lower edge of an upper panel may rest for supporting the upper panel in a desired position overlapping the lower panel a predetermined distance while the upper portion of the upper panel is secured to the Wall member and the lower portion of the upper panel is pushed onto the prong means.

4. The blind-type clip of claim 3 including frangible means in the flange to permit at least a portion of the flange to be broken off after the upper panel has been moved to interlocking engagement with the prong means.

5. The blind-type clip of claim 4 wherein the frangible means connects the entire flange to the body portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,177,950 4/1916 Howes -71 1,297,523 3/1919 With 503l9 1,510,497 10/ 1924 Keller 50-247 1,590,947 12/1924 Harris 50-248 2,200,649 5/1940 Wardle 20--92 2,444,738 7/1948 Holmes 50248 2,731,701 1/1956 Klausner 5070 2,880,481 4/ 1959 Robinson 20-8 3,071,827 1/1963 Van Buren 50319 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, JACOB L. NACKENOFF,

Examiners. 

2. A BLIND-TYPE CLIP FOR ANCHORING IN PLACE OVERLAPPING PANEL MEMBERS AND THE LIKE INCLUDING AN UNDERLAYMENT AND AN OVERLAYMENT SAID CLIP COMPRISING A THIN, STIFF, ELONGATE PLATE INCLUDING A MAIN BODY PORTION, SAID MAIN BODY PORTION INCLUDING A NAIL HOLE THERETHROUGH FOR FASTENING SAID PLATE TO SAID UNDERLAYMENT, SPACER MEANS FOR PROVIDING SAID OVERLAYMENT AND SAID UNDERLAYMENT WITH A CONSTANT PREDETERMINED OVERLAP, SAID SPACER MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF FLANGES BENT IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS FROM OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID MAIN BODY PORTION AND AT RIGHT ANGLES THERETO, SAID FLANGES INCLUDING A FIRST FLANGE FOR ENGAGING THE TOP EDGE OF AN UNDERLAYMENT AND A SECOND FLANGE OF GREATER LENGTH THAN SAID FIRST FLANGE FOR ENGAGING THE BOTTOM EDGE OF AN OVERLAYMENT, SAID SECOND FLANGE BEING FRANGIBLE SUCH THAT IT CAN READILY BE REMOVED FROM THE REMAINDER OF SAID CLIP FOLLOWIN GTHE INSTALLATION OF SAID OVERLAYMENT, BLIND FASTENING MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF INTEGRAL SHARPPOINTED PRONGS STRUCK FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE EDGES OF SAID MAIN BODY PORTION INTERMEDIATE SAID FLANGES AND PROJECTING IN THE SAME GENERAL DIRECTION AS BUT A LESSER DISTANCE THAN SAID SECOND FLANGE FOR PENETRATING THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID OVERLAYMENT, THE BOARD SURFACES OF EACH OF SAID PRONGS BEING DISPOSED GENERALLY TRANSVERSELY OF SAID MAIN BODY PORTION, SAID PRONGS BEING DIVERGENT WITH RESPECT TO ONE ANOTHER IN A DIRECTION TOWARD THEIR EXTREMITIES AND TOWARD THE LONGITUDINALLY OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID PLATE MEMBER. 